It was a disconcerting... - All The Good Seed Daily Devotionals for 2025

The LORD God of hosts, the Lord, says this: I hate, I despise your feast days. Take away from me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments.
Amos 5:16.21.23.

It was a disconcerting, rousing word with which God addressed His people through the prophet Amos. God was not satisfied with His people outwardly celebrating feasts in His honour, when their hearts were far from Him. My own encounters with people show how topical this problem is:

In a conversation with a young man I asked him, "Are you a Christian?" - "Yes, but I'm not a submarine Christian." - "What's that?" - "Submerged Christians who only emerge at certain times like Christmas, Easter and Whitsun. I practise the Christian faith every day." How right the young man was! There is definitely a whole fleet of submarine Christians.

When I asked a woman the same question, she replied, "Yes, but only on paper." She was at least honest. A baptismal certificate is not an admission ticket for heaven, nor does it keep anyone from hell. Only genuine heartfelt faith in Jesus Christ brings salvation. Whoever knows that his sins are forgiven through Christ will thank Him and love Him. That is the mark of a true Christian.

Before Christmas I distribute flyers with the real Christmas message at the station. Few show any interest. A man who watched the proceedings commented, "They all celebrate His birth, but none of them needs Him." His remark hit the nail on the head. Displaying the stall with the manger in a shop window, or under the Christmas tree without having a heart for Christ is preposterous. That makes the prophet Amos' urgent appeal applicable to us: "Seek me and live!" (Amos 5:4).

Today's reading: 2 Chronicles 23:12-21 · Revelation 11:1-11